


Forgetting Time and Place (All He Wanted)

by floralcipher



Category: Original Work
Genre: (It's not that relevant though), Christian Character, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Morning After, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Trans Male Character, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralcipher/pseuds/floralcipher
Summary: Vignette of Teddy and August figuring their shit out. Featuring cute confessions and snarky back-and-forth.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Forgetting Time and Place (All He Wanted)

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's just my OCs but it is the second fic I've ever finished let me have this.
> 
> Title from First Time He Kissed A Boy by Kadie Elder.

It was a morning in early spring, too warm for frost, but not warm enough to drop dew on the grass. Also apparently warm enough for me to have drunkenly stripped my shirt off before collapsing into bed, but not so that my attic bedroom respected that, come the 7am chill.

The first thing I registered after waking up were my feet, notably outside the cozy constraints of my comforter. I deftly pulled them back into position with the rest of my body: curled into a fetal bundle of blankets and limbs.

Eyes still squeezed shut, and all extremities returned to their swaddled cocoon, I willed my fading dream back. I couldn’t remember exactly what I was dreaming about, but it felt warm and familiar, and I wanted to keep forgetting the outside world for as long as I could.

This turned out to be not very much longer, as the disturbance that had presumably woken me up continued. It was mostly footsteps, creaking every inch of my floor, which would theoretically be helpful if an intruder made their way into my bedroom, but this one seemed to be shuffling back and forth rather unworried about catching my attention. I figured it was Ellie in search of the jeans I had borrowed from her, and needing to head out to work, hence the complete indifference to whether or not she woke me up.

With a heavy exhale, I managed to grumble out a snarky greeting.

“You make a shitty burglar.”

The footsteps stopped.

“Well if that’s how you feel, could you come help me find my socks?”

From the baritone twang of the response I got, I quickly decided that the person rummaging through my room was _not_ my sister. I wasn’t awake enough to figure anything out based on voice alone, so I reluctantly released the hold on my sheets and stretched my arms out above me. I hoisted my torso up on an elbow to assess exactly whose socks I was looking for.

Blinking through sleep-weary eyelids, the shape across from me slowly focused into a person. Not a stranger, which could lean fortunate or otherwise, depending on how much or how little I had actually forgotten from the night before.

“Teddy...why are you here?” I asked slowly, out of both caution for the potentially loaded question and genuine confusion as my brain scrambled to answer the question itself.

Teddy’s sheepish smile went a little lopsided. “I can get out of your hair as soon as my socks turn up. I’m just trying not to get blisters from morning rounds.”

“No-” I said, a little harshly. “I don’t care that you’re here, but...why didn’t you go home last night? I thought you were DD’ing?”

Pink erupted over the farmboy’s face as he tried to stutter out an answer. Clearly I was missing something, and Mr. Southern Hospitality was already flustered enough from waking me up.

I forced myself into a sitting position, examining the evidence that stood stammering at the foot of my bed. He was wearing the same outfit as last night - flannel over a black shirt, and the jeans that do absolutely nothing for his butt. I had threatened to Tan France his ass into some chinos, at least, but he always had some excuse that was related to work, or money, or body shape. Which was all fair enough, but his butt was really nice and his closet wasn’t doing it any justice.

I paused in my line of thought. _Why do I know what Teddy’s butt looks like?_

Realization dawned on me, and I was suddenly aware of my dry tongue sitting heavy in my mouth, thick with the tang of muscadine and last night’s impulsions. I blinked rapidly, attempting to clear away the drowsy, drunken fog obscuring my memories.

I felt the faint impression of hands on my waist, on my chest, on my shoulders, remembering only my insufferable need to be constantly, impossibly closer to him. He had reciprocated in a way that could only be fueled by his own unbridled desire - or the bottle of wine I encouraged him to share with me on the back porch.

My cheeks began to mirror his flush once I flicked my gaze to his neck, confirming that I had not imagined the faint taste of sweat and Old Spice as I acted upon my need to mark a souvenir right under his jaw.

I only managed to breathe a soft “Oh…”, struggling to figure out how to apologize, or, deep down, if I even wanted to apologize.

Poor Teddy was doing his best to look everywhere but my position on the bed. His eyes glanced down, and widened slightly in discovery. He swiftly dropped down and bobbed back up, socks in hand, and before I could say anything, he was already moving for the stairs, a stream of unintelligible excuses filling the air.

“Teddy-” I blurted out, along with an outstretched hand. “Stop. Wait. Just-” I sighed. “Don’t go.”

For whatever reason, I hadn’t actually expected him to stop. But of the many qualities that made Theodore Dan Lewis, rudeness was never to be found, so he stopped right at the edge, one hand clenched on the banister. He was turned away from me, but I had glimpsed something resembling guilt on his face as he rushed past. Knowing Teddy, he was blaming himself for whatever happened, and I was not going to let my mistakes weigh heavy in another man’s heart.

With a deep exhale, I said, “Come back. Please.”

It was a selfish request, I’ll admit, but I had made up my mind to confess everything that stretched far before a seemingly innocuous house party, and I would do it face to face.

Teddy approached the bed hesitantly, and I gestured for him to sit. He did, of course, but fresh guilt had reignited the burn that was settled in my gut.

“I know I fucked up. I know. And you don’t have to let me finish, in fact you can leave right now if you want to, but I wanted to at least try to explain.”

Bemusement overtook the look of shame, but Teddy stayed rooted on the bed, and somehow that eased my racing thoughts, a little bit.

I sighed again. “When I invited you here, I didn’t intend for any of this-” I paused, sweeping my hand for emphasis, “-to happen.”

Teddy seemed to deflate more from his already wilted demeanor, and I tried to ignore it so I wasn’t overwhelmed by the anxious thoughts picking at my brain.

“I’m really sorry for whatever I did, or said, if I actually said anything, I’m honestly still trying to remember what happened between us. Even though I was _very_ drunk, that doesn’t excuse my actions, and I’m so sorry if I pressured you into doing anything you were uncomfortable with. Which I assume was...all of it.” I could feel my resolve draining away with every admission, and looked down at my fidgeting hands.

“I have...Teddy, I’ve had kind of a lot of feelings for you for a while, but none of these feelings ever wanted to take advantage of you. I like having you as a friend, and I didn’t want to risk that by crossing any boundaries. I know my...me...can be a lot sometimes in terms of how not-cishet I am, and you’ve tolerated it as well as I could ask from any straight person.”

Teddy shifted slightly, and I looked up to meet his eyes. His expression had morphed into something complex and unreadable, but he nodded at me to continue, so I did.

“But what I did last night was not okay. I was acting selfishly and wasn’t thinking, and if I can ask one last thing…” I trailed off as Teddy raised his eyebrows.

“Did we actually...you know…” Too afraid to speak it, I opted for a more ambiguous version of the traditionally crude gesture, hoping the other man would take the hint.

As soon as Teddy figured out what I was asking, a wheezing noise exited his lungs, and I couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or cough. I froze, hands still in position as he cleared his throat to speak.

“Well fuck,” he said, a vague smile creeping back across his face.

I gave him a look of expectation, and he quickly answered, “No, we didn’t do that. You passed out right after giving me this,” and pointing to the dark bruise on his neck.

The blush returned to my face full-force as I looked back down at my sheets and began to stutter out another apology.

“Stop, August,” he ordered, putting a large, calloused hand over my twitching fingers. I obliged and resigned myself to whatever chewing out he was about to give me.

“I don’t really know where to start, and you know I’m not the best at words, but...August you didn’t take advantage of me. Hell, here I was, thinking I had done the same to you.”

It was my turn to knit my eyebrows, perplexed. Upon noticing my confusion, he slowly began to fill in the missing pieces.

“Last night, it was just me, you, and Ellie. Everyone else left, got home safe, I made sure of it. We were talking on the back porch, and you had gotten out the bottle of muscadine I got you for your birthday. I only drank so much because sweet wine is a scam that I have been suckered by too many times before, and I convinced myself that a few sips were fine. Not your fault.”

Teddy’s hand curled around mine, and I was suddenly very aware of how sweaty my hands were, and the remnants of several drinks that seemed to bubble a bit in my stomach.

“At some point you just crawled into my lap and started hugging me. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but we kissed, then we kissed some more, and then you said, ‘Come sleep over,’ and yanked me inside. Long story short, we did a lotta kissing, most of the clothes ended up wherever they damn well pleased, you rambled about how pretty you thought I was, kept asking if I still liked you and if everything was okay, which - _yes_ , everything was fine and I still like you - then you gave me...a couple of hickeys, actually, and fell asleep right before I did.”

I realized that during Teddy’s review of the night, my jaw had lowered into a gape, and quickly snapped it shut as my brain tried to figure out what emotions I was currently supposed to, and trying to feel. I was still embarrassed beyond belief - even moreso, if possible - but an inkling of hope crept into my thoughts, that maybe Teddy didn’t actually hate me now.

Thankfully, Teddy continued before I had the chance to say something stupid and impulsive. “August, the reason I didn’t stop you was because I’ve been wrestling with my own feelings. About you. And yeah, I identified as straight, but it didn’t stop me from realizing that you are one of the most beautiful creatures God has put upon this planet and He has blessed me with the chance to have you in my life. If anything, I wanna thank drunken you for finally getting me to stop pussyfooting around and accept that.”

My mind went blank. For a few moments, I stared at Teddy in silence, trying to understand what he had just confessed. Eventually, I saw worry begin to creep back into his expression, and all I could do was giggle and gently pull my hand out of Teddy’s embrace to bury my own face in my hands.

“Not good at words, my ass…” I mumbled, still giggling into my palms. The bed dipped as I felt Teddy scoot closer to me, placing his hands on my knees.

“Now from what you just said, it sounds like you’ve got something similar going on, but don’t have the sexuality crisis excuse to back it up.”

I could hear the tease in Teddy’s voice, but briefly forgot my embarrassment to lightly smack his arm in retaliation. “I know you’re new to this, but have you ever heard of gay yearning? It’s a thing,” I laughed.

I shoved my hands under Teddy’s to hold them, and just sat in the moment, feeling relief seep into every part of my being. The farmboy’s bearded face was cracked open in a grin, and I couldn’t help my own affectionate smile.

“So…” I began. “Do you still have to get to morning rounds?”

Teddy shrugged noncommittally. “I’m sure Morgan’s gotten the hint that I’m gonna be a little late. They’ll be fine.”

Cocking my head in feigned curiosity, I asked, “Why, do you have other plans?”

“Depends if you’re willing to kiss me again.”

“Only if you promise to go on a date with me.”

“Deal.”


End file.
